


The Risky Asset

by Orchard_Thief



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Age Difference, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Spoilers, Aromantic, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Canonical Character Death, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Gay, Implied Sexual Content, Kinky, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Character, Light BDSM, M/M, Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One Compliant, Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two Compliant, Not Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Compliant, Secret Relationship, Tahiti (Agents of SHIELD)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:00:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29764839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orchard_Thief/pseuds/Orchard_Thief
Summary: Gifted agents were rare at SHIELD. Usually, gifted people were left on the index with limitations on their abilities. Agent Aiden Blake was an exception, and Phil Coulson needed him as an asset to his team.
Relationships: Phil Coulson & Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Prelude

-PRELUDE-

Phil Coulson stares at the closed file in front of him, pondering whether it would be a good idea to pull an agent in training from the academy. The name "Aiden Blake" was printed in bold letters on a tag poking out from within the file, the only thing identifying whose record this was amongst the thousands of other agents. 

"He's not an asset," Agent Maria Hill says, leaning against the wall of Coulson's office. "He'd be a risk. He's still learning, Coulson."

"He's gifted," Phil says, glancing at Maria. "Do you know how valuable that would be to my team?"

"Do you know how dangerous that could be to your team?" She replies, raising an eyebrow. "He hasn't finished his formal training and he doesn't always-"

"-follow orders?" Phil finishes. "I can read an agents file, Agent Hill. I also know he gets emotionally invested in missions and isn't a cold-blooded killer. The academy was even considering letting him go because he couldn't be their perfect hitman."

"And you're still considering him as a viable recruitment option for your team?"

"I am," Phil says, picking up the brown file with S.H.I.E.L.D stamped across the front cover. Maria Hill continues to stare at Phil with mild disbelief as he flips through the file for the fifth time in the half an hour she had been with him in his office. "I'm planning on recruiting Agent Grant Ward and having him mentor Blake where he needed to be mentored."

"Ward can't mentor Blake to be stable," Maria says, an edge to her tone. "This is ridiculous. You're talking about placing an untrained, inexperienced, and disobedient rookie on a team of skilled individuals. He's hasn't even got clearance level five yet-"

"Well, you better bump him up a level," Coulson says, closing the file and giving Maria a small smile. "Blake has a gift we need to utilise. He plays well with others and puts the safety of others before his own. He's got top marks in nearly everything. Blake isn't perfect, but neither are the others."

Coulson starts heading for the door of his office and Maria follows, still harbouring against allowing a young agent on the team. 

"I'll let Fury know," She says, her voice clipped. "I hope you know what you're doing, Coulson."

"I hope so too," He says, opening and holding the door for Hill. "Let's go brief Agent Ward."


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a pilot chapter - kinda short ngl

-PILOT-

S.H.I.E.L.D Academy of Operations.  
LOCATION: Classified TIME: 1400 HOURS.

Aiden Blake was one of the few operatives who had not dropped out of the operations academy. However, he was one of the few who had almost been kicked out on numerous occasions. The inability to consistently pull the trigger on targets was one of the main reasons he had been told that success as a specialist would be hard to find. So when John Garrett had him hauled out of an exercise and sent down to the academy director's office, he was already considering his options as a bouncer or low-level government operative. You could imagine his surprise when he walked through the door of the office and instead of the director being faced with someone he had only ever heard about.

"Agent Hill," Alexander says in acknowledgement, letting the door swing shut behind him. "I thought I was meant to be seeing the academy director?"

"Take a seat, Agent Blake," Maria Hill says, eyeing the younger agent. "We've got some things to talk about."

"Am I being kicked out?" He asks, promptly dropping into the seat opposite Hill. 

"Fortunately for you, you're not," She replies, folding her arms. "You're being recruited for a special team."

"But I'm still in training," Aiden says, surprise slowly etching itself onto his face. "I'm still being monitored on trial field missions-"

"I am well aware of that," Hill interrupts. "I know everything that's written in your file, how you're doing in training, how your relationships with fellow trainees are going - everything. Your current skillset alone wouldn't be enough to be considered for this team, however, it's your gifts which has caught peoples' attention."

"S.H.I.E.L.D took me off the index," Aiden says, leaning forward in his chair slightly. "I thought they weren't strong enough to be considered abilities."

"We needed to keep you off the radar," She says. "Your abilities on the other hand... there were some tests a few of the scientists were wanting to run, but Director Fury had them shut down. There is still no basis for psychic abilities and the argument regarding whether they're real or not, but there are more important things to focus on right now."

Maria reaches into her pocket and produces a small holographic projector, placing it on the table between her and Aiden. Aiden watches as she pushes a button and the device whirs to life. A static image appears in thin air but slowly clears to reveal the ID of different people from across the entire agency - only two of which Aiden had heard of before. 

"This is the team," Hill says. "Recognise anybody?"

"I recognise Agent Ward," He replies. "I've seen him at the academy a few times - only when he was visiting though."

"Agent Ward is going to be mentoring you for a while until he thinks you're capable of doing things yourself. These missions aren't going to be anything like you've covered so far in your training," She states. "Anyone else?"

"Just Melinda May," Aiden says, nodding at the slightly more mature woman. He knew the stories - as did every rookie coming through the academy.

"The other two are scientists - we call them Fitzsimmons. Inseparable and brilliant minds - youngest graduates from the academy of science and technology," Maria explains. "They'll be working behind the scenes with Agent May."

She turns off the projector and returns the device to her pocket.

"So who's running the team? Who's in charge?" He asks slowly. 

"Coulson will be," Hill says calmly. "He'll be meeting you later, so pack your bags right after this."

Aiden blinks for a few seconds, processing the last part of the sentence. The battle of New York was only a little while ago, but the news of Phil Coulson's death rocked the entire agency. Everyone knew who Coulson was and how much he had dedicated to S.H.I.E.L.D. Aiden had never had the opportunity to meet the man before he was killed in action. 

"Agent Coulson is alive?" He asks.

"You don't sound as surprised as I thought you would be," Maria says, standing up and pushing her chair in. "Not many people know he's still alive." 

"I'm only a level four agent, I don't doubt there are bigger things S.H.I.E.L.D are keeping from me."

"That reminds me," She says, striding past Aiden and opening the door. "Welcome to level five, Agent Blake."

As the door swings shut behind Hill, Aiden's face goes slack. He didn't expect to ever reach level five. The academy was constantly discussing whether he should be allowed to continue with this specific program, considering he couldn't always take the shot or carry out what was asked of him. The arguments were always the same. Some of the senior agents argued his abilities were an asset to the academy and the agency, believing S.H.I.E.L.D should use his gifts in the field. Others argued that because of his abilities and instability paired with them, he shouldn't be allowed in the field because he could jeopardise everything - the mission itself, their location, and the lives of other agents on the ground with him.

Slowly getting to his feet, Aiden leaves the office and makes his way back to the student barracks. With the last few classes of the day still running, there was no one else around, yet his bags had already been packed for him. His room had been rendered spotless and there was an envelope sitting neatly on top of one of his bags. Aiden takes the envelope and tears into it, leaving a jagged rip along the top. He discards the envelope itself and quickly reads through the letter inside, taking note of a location and a time. It was all he needed to know.

***

S.H.I.E.L.D Hangar.  
LOCATION: Classified.  
TIME: 1500 HOURS.

The hangar wasn't far from the academy, meaning Aiden had arrived a little ahead of time. However, the hangar was still buzzing with activity and there were agents everywhere. The most impressive thing, in Aiden's most humble opinion, was the large black jet sitting in the midst of everything. He slowly makes his way over to the rear, staring up in awe at it. The wings were gigantic, spanning nearly the width of the hangar itself, and equipped with large engines - and Aiden could only presume weaponry to match its size. The loading bay was big enough to fit two vehicles - a black jeep already taking up one of the two spots. As Aiden steps inside the jet, he notices the laboratory set up and the capacity for storage space, as well as the spiral staircase set off to the right. He puts his bags down outside of the lab, a quiet thud briefly reverberating off of the walls.

"You must be Agent Blake," a female voice says from behind Aiden accompanied by the sound of boots walking across metal. 

"Yes, ma'am," He says automatically, turning around. His eyes widen and Aiden immediately straightens his posture, recognising the woman instantly. "Agent May?"

"I'm the pilot," Melinda May says, walking right past him. "You can stow your bags upstairs in the bunks."

Aiden hastily recollects his belongings as May starts up the stairs before following behind. They reach the top of the stairs within a few seconds and head into what Aiden could only guess was the common space onboard. There were leather recliners next to the windows, a sofa, a small briefing room, as well as many other luxuries he could only guess come with owning a private jet. 

"This must've cost S.H.I.E.L.D a fortune," Aiden says, looking around at everything. 

"It did," May says calmly. "You'll be sleeping here."

She pulls open what Aiden initially thought was a cupboard to reveal a living compartment with a bed and enough space for his baggage. 

"Thank you-"

"Wheels are up in fifteen," May says, already walking away. "The rest of the team will be here soon."

She disappears through a door further ahead, leaving Aiden alone. He nods a few times before sliding his bags under the bed, deciding to unpack once they had taken off. For now, he would just explore the rest of the jet. As he shuts the doors to his bunk, several agents walk past carrying black suitcases and a few boxes. A dark-haired agent glances his way and does a double-take, surprise instantly clouding his face. 

"Aiden?" the agent says, confusion clouding their face. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on the team," Aiden replies, recognising the other agent as Hamish Strang. "I thought you were supposed to be back at your academy."

"The mechanics needed a hand, so I volunteered," Hamish says with a small shrug and a crooked smile. "Why did S.H.I.E.L.D want a level four on this team though? I heard it was almost elite-"

"Level five now, actually," Aiden corrects, a mild warmth spreading across his cheeks. He looks to the ground and shrugs sheepishly. "And I guess S.H.I.E.L.D thinks I could be an asset to them or something."

"I mean, yeah," Strang says, emphasising the end of the sentence. "I mean you're here and on the Bus-"

"Agent Strang!" Someone yells from the other end of the jet. "Let's keep moving! We've got one more set to do!"

"Sorry, sir!" He replies, glancing towards the voice. "Right, well I gotta go. See you around, Aiden."

"Yeah, see you," Aiden says, glancing back up and giving him a small smile before Strang leaves. He watches Hamish walk away and lets a small sigh escape his lips. He knew Hamish somewhat intimately, but otherwise, he was almost a stranger now. They had both originally been together at the ops as bunk neighbours, but Hamish ended up deciding he wanted to get hands-on with S.H.I.E.L.D technology and machinery and subsequently left operations. 

Aiden shakes his head and looks around at the space before heading back towards the stairs. He wanted to meet the rest of the team - particularly Agents Fitz and Simmons. They were closer to his age than Ward and Melinda, and more than likely friendlier. In all fairness, it wasn't hard to be friendlier than those two. 

As Aiden steps back out onto the stairwell landing, he could already hear some bickering from within the lab. A loud thud cuts across the argument, ceasing all noise. Aiden quickly descends the stairs to see Agent Ward at the entrance to the lab and two young scientists inside. Ward glances at Aiden and gives him a small nod.

"Rookie," Ward says in acknowledgment before turning to the scientists. "Fitzsimmons?"

"Oh, that's Fitz and I'm Simmons," The female scientist, Simmons, says with a smile. 

"I'm engineering, she's bio-chem," Fitz says, pointing between the two of them. His gaze drifts past Ward and meets Aiden's. "You're Agents Blake and Ward?"

"He's Ward," Aiden says, scratching his arm and glancing at his senior agent. 

"Coulson said we needed our comm receivers encoded," Ward says, pulling two handheld radios out of his pocket. He glances at Aiden. "He also said you wouldn't have one yet, so I grabbed you one for you."

"Thank you."

"I don't know if you've worked with that model before," He says, returning his attention to Fitz as the scientist takes the devices over to the desk. "They're brand new-"

Fitz picks up a small hammer and promptly begins smashing the radios, ignoring everything Ward was saying. Ward's jaw clenches slightly with each hit the receivers take, watching as they're reduced to shattered pieces. 

"He'll repurpose them," Simmons says, barely looking at Fitz and pulling out two swabs.

"You don't need your external receiver for the inner ear comms anymore," Fitz says, holding a piece of the now smashed receivers up and looking at them. Ward raises an eyebrow as he removes the earbud from inside his ear. 

"If we don't need receivers, then how does it all work?" Aiden asks, joining Ward at the entrance to the lab and watching Simmons forcibly shove a swab inside of his mouth. 

"With embedded sensory-neural silicone matched to your DNA," She says, finishing up with Ward and turning to Aiden. "It's all very posh."

Aiden opens his mouth for her and she swabs inside. She swabs everywhere, from underneath his tongue right to the back of his mouth. He winces slightly at the dry, scratchy, cotton touching the back of his throat. It made him feel like he needed to cough. Simmons pulls the swab from his mouth and holds it up to the light, inspecting it. Seemingly satisfied, she turns on her heel and takes a few quick steps back to the centre console.

"No gag reflex?" She comments. Aiden shakes his head and rubs the back of his neck.

"No, not really."

Simmons quickly puts the two DNA samples into test tubes before facing Ward and Aiden again, smiling.

"So, are you two excited to be coming on our journey into mystery?" Simmons asks brightly. 

"It's like Christmas," Ward says, his tone dripping with sarcasm. 

The sound of squealing tires fills the air as a bright red retro car comes screeching to a stop inside of the jet. Aiden stares at the car as a man in a suit and aviators steps out, ignoring Fitz whispering about the car. He could only assume this was Agent Phil Coulson - the man everyone believed to be dead. 

"Don't touch the Lola," Coulson says sharply as a mechanic comes over to inspect the car. He backs off instantly - almost embarrassed.

Coulson looks up in the direction of Ward and Aiden, but Aiden couldn't tell who he was actually looking at. Sunglasses never helped with that sort of thing.

"Good afternoon, sir," Aiden says, bowing his head ever so slightly. He didn't know how strict on formalities the man was yet and definitely needed to play it safer. 

"Agent Blake, thanks for being here," Coulson says, taking his sunglasses off. "If you and Ward could come upstairs for a quick briefing?"

The two operatives nod and follow the man up the stairs and into the cabin.

"Lola's not just a collectible, you know?" He says, striding down the cabin. "People tend to confuse the words, 'new and improved.' This mobile command was in heavy rotation back in the nineties... then we got a helicarrier."

"You've been with S.H.I.E.L.D a long time then, sir?" Aiden says, a few steps behind Ward.

"You make me sound old," He replies, glancing back at the pair. "Did you two ever hear the one about a guy who was afraid of flying?"

"I've done a night drop into a zone under heavy fire, sir. I can handle it," Ward says smoothly. "Agent Blake might-"

"I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be a joke, Agent Ward," Aiden says as they stop outside of the bunks. 

"I- yeah, I'm not gonna tell it now," Coulson says, somewhat sheepishly. "Moment's gone."

"If you plan to unpack, make it quick," Agent May's voice comes from where Aiden could only presume the cockpit was. She marches out into the cabin with a folder in her hand. "Wheels are up in five. We've had a hit on the Rising Tide's routing points."

"Good, we need to do some catching up," Coulson says, taking the folder from May and flicking it open. Ward stares after May as she heads back into the cockpit, awestruck.

"The Rising Tide?" Aiden says.

"I'll brief you in my office on the way," Coulson says. "Agent Hill left a few bits out of your briefing this afternoon for me to cover."

"Are we not going to talk about who that is?" Ward says, still staring.

"She's just the pilot," Coulson responds. "Blake, come with me."

"Yes, sir."

"Melinda May is just the pilot? What game are you really playing here, sir?" Ward asks as Coulson and Aiden head off up another set of stairs. 

"You better stow your gear, Agent Ward," Coulson replies, not even glancing back. "Wheels are up in five."


End file.
